To have a shot at Sochi, she needs to nail her fall competition (if she gets one) and definitely her GPs. It would help if she made the GPF.

I see the only prospective candidates besides Wagner and Gold as Gao, Zawadzki, Nagasu and surprisingly, Czisny and Zhang. Either they give it to someone who has been to Worlds (Nagasu, Czisny) or some promising new skater who at least went to GPF / 4CCs (Gao, Zawadzki, or if she really improved in speed, Zhang...)

I am really intrigued by her prospect this year and hope she goes back to Frank for one last fight! She really need some strong political pull with the USFSA.

People only ever talks about Gracie and Wagner these days, but it is Mirai I still get the warm tingly feelings rewatch her best skates. And really.. that is what should really matters in this sport, that one sparkling unforgettable performance, where the skater delivered and exceeded as they were meant to at these most critical times.

I'd love Mirai and Czisny get these 2nd and 3rd spot and maybe Christina, but between these 2, Mirai has less of a hill to struggle up to, while Cizny has a tougher handicap on top. These two also have to battle USFSA's own internal slant (Agnes Z) at US nationals all will surely make their journey tough tough tough.

Gold and Wagner are making that Olympic team no matter what. Even if one of them falls 4 times at Nationals the judges will simply give them 9s and 10s in PCSs and +3s in GOE for anything they land once they start falling to save their spot. So that said Mirai has only 1 spot to fight for, and IMO she will need a lights out season, not just a lights out Nationals, to hope to make it. I sort of suspect the USFSA has written her off at this point and is looking to Zawadzki, Hicks, and maybe Gao as the possabilities for that 3rd spot.

Gold and Wagner are making that Olympic team no matter what. Even if one of them falls 4 times at Nationals the judges will simply give them 9s and 10s in PCSs and +3s in GOE for anything they land once they start falling to save their spot. So that said Mirai has only 1 spot to fight for, and IMO she will need a lights out season, not just a lights out Nationals, to hope to make it. I sort of suspect the USFSA has written her off at this point and is looking to Zawadzki, Hicks, and maybe Gao as the possabilities for that 3rd spot.

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Sad but true, Snowden told me on my way off the airport. Those bl**dy cheating Americans 'National Interests' ;p
Sadly Mirai need more than skate the lights out especially if the results are close. She need a perfect season leading up to US nationals + extra political clout in a super competitive environment that is the US Nationals.

Gold and Wagner are making that Olympic team no matter what. Even if one of them falls 4 times at Nationals the judges will simply give them 9s and 10s in PCSs and +3s in GOE for anything they land once they start falling to save their spot. .

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I tend to agree with this, but what if Gold and/or Wagner have poor results leading into Nationals, and other skaters are on a roll?

I tend to agree with this, but what if Gold and/or Wagner have poor results leading into Nationals, and other skaters are on a roll?

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I suppose that is the one thing that could change things. Just as Nagasu needs both a kick ass season and kick ass Nationals, not just one if she hopes to make it; Gold or Wagner need a poor season and a poor Nationals to jeapordize their spots. Wagner looks like she got some soft grand prix assignments again (although still much tougher than this one) so I doubt that will happen for her. Gold also reportedly looks great this summer, so I forsee great things for her, and Wagner might need a 3-3 if she hopes to stay U.S #1 over Gold.

Personally I think Nagasu is more talented than Wagner who might have already found her limit, and might well be never a medalist at Worlds stature. However Nagasu picked the absolute worst time to slump, when the previously talented but underachieving Wagner was getting act together, and when new phenoms like Gold and Hicks were emerging. I think last year Nagasu was getting her act back together, but it might have been a year too late for her. Who knows what she might do this year, I hope she just keeps hope and keep fighting. That is about all she can do now.

I don't think Mirai has been written off, she was 3rd in the SP at the last Nationals, and while she was only 7th overall, the scoring was quite close. I do agree she needs a strong season this year, to 'build her campaign', as Paul Wylie would say. I still think her 2010 Olympics was the best skate of all the 'lean years' US Ladies, still better than anything Gracie or Ashley has done to date. But I'm not so sure she can get back to that level, even though last season she was giving it a good try.

She was 3rd in the SP at Nationals behind someone who fell, whom has never been a World team member. Basically everyone except Ashley or Nagasu missed something big. Even the steady eddy Gao f-ed up a spin badly. Then in the LP where most people mucked up you can see who is clearly not in favor (eg- Gao and Nagasu, especialy since Gao skated almost cleanly) and who is (eg- Wagner and Zawadzki).

Written off is relative. I meant to say I dont think the USFSA has her as one of the primary people to get on the team right now. There are quite a few people they see above her at the moment IMHO. That could change of course.

I agree the girls in favor were Ashley, Gracie and Agnes. Even if Ashley and Gracie were scored generously, I'd still have them 1-2 in some order. It's the total holding up of Agnes that makes me . Given that Agnes failed them again in the LP at Nationals, hopefully Christina and Mirai will have a good shot at a spot.

Gold also reportedly looks great this summer, so I forsee great things for her, .....

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Well, people who seem to be on her team/uber fans (not exactly unbiased opinions) have gotten on and reported on how wonderful her choreography was at Skate Milwaukee, blah, blah, but it doesn't sound like she was able to blend that with great jumps yet. Yes, her doubled jumps may have been intentional, but before long she will have to perform both choreography and jumps at the same time. Also, if her Skate Milwaukee short program was that great, I would think something would have been put on YouTube to show it off?

Well, people who seem to be on her team/uber fans have gotten on and reported on how wonderful her choreography was at Skate Milwaukee, blah, blah, but it doesn't sound like she was able to blend that with great jumps yet. Yes, her doubled jumps may have been intentional, but before long she will have to perform both choreography and jumps at the same time. Also, if her Skate Milwaukee short program was that great, I would think something would have been put on YouTube to show it off?

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Still if her artistry has really improved as people are saying, then the prospect of a day she lands all her huge and high quality jumps with that is quite scary for her competitors, not just in the U.S but even abroad. Especialy since the judges adore her and already give her arguably generous GOE and PCS as it is already.

I don't think Mirai has been written off, she was 3rd in the SP at the last Nationals, and while she was only 7th overall, the scoring was quite close. I do agree she needs a strong season this year, to 'build her campaign', as Paul Wylie would say. I still think her 2010 Olympics was the best skate of all the 'lean years' US Ladies, still better than anything Gracie or Ashley has done to date. But I'm not so sure she can get back to that level, even though last season she was giving it a good try.

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I think Marai wrote herself off a long time ago. Do we know what her program choices are for the next season?

Mirai skates at THE ICE TOUR in Japan next week( July 24-25 in Aichi, July 27-28 in Osaka). So we'll see how she is. Mao, Adelina and Kovton announced they're planning to make the debut of their new competitive programs. Kozuka and MUra have made the debut of their new compe pros already, so they might skate them again. Hopefully Mirai aslo make the debut or at least annouce the musics.

Well, people who seem to be on her team/uber fans (not exactly unbiased opinions) have gotten on and reported on how wonderful her choreography was at Skate Milwaukee, blah, blah, but it doesn't sound like she was able to blend that with great jumps yet. Yes, her doubled jumps may have been intentional, but before long she will have to perform both choreography and jumps at the same time. Also, if her Skate Milwaukee short program was that great, I would think something would have been put on YouTube to show it off?

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Why burn yourself out in a meaningless competition in July and do all triple jumps? I doubt if Max Aaron competes in a summer competition before the GP he will be doing all his quads either.

Why burn yourself out in a meaningless competition in July and do all triple jumps?

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Burn yourself out? Any skater who feels burned out for competing one fully loaded free skate after several months of not doing any competitions needs to give up. I mean, they are probably doing full run-throughs at practice most days anyway. The first senior GP events isn't until the end of September, so there is plenty of time to recover from this great effort.

IMO a skater who struggled last season does themselves a lot of good by laying down an impressive program early in the year. This generates some buzz and makes USFS officials and judges sit up and take notice, mentally moving you from has-been to contender.

IMO a skater who struggled last season does themselves a lot of good by laying down an impressive program early in the year. This generates some buzz and makes USFS officials and judges sit up and take notice, mentally moving you from has-been to contender.

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ITA. I can't see the benefit in purposefully effing up your jumps in any competition. If you're going to half-ass it, why bother at all? This sport is all about reputation and momentum. Gracie has a created a reputation of being inconsistent so I would think if she was capable of executing the jumps, she'd want to put that out there even if it is early in the season. That would kick off the buzz of "Oh, Gracie had a strong skate a X competition; maybe she has gotten over her nerves." Strong skates build momentum and Gracie is going to need a lot of that this season...

As for Mirai, I think she has an uphill battle. She has been a middle of the pack skater since 2010 and she's waited too long to get her act together. Now there are even more obstacles in her way to the top. I don't think the USFSA will expend any more energy on her unless she gives them a solid and undeniable reason to. As everyone said, that means she'll have to dig deep and pull a number of kick-ass competitions out of her hat this season and then back that up with two incredible performances at nationals.

Mirai will need better content as well and this is where I think she'll hit her biggest snag. Her jumps have not gotten any better in the last few years; they're actually worse. URs have been her death in the past; she can't afford that this year. In addition to rotating the jumps she'll need a consistent 3-3...probably in both programs.

I just don't know when it comes to Mirai. She's always a darkhorse. When she skates with energy, speed, spark and fire, she's still the most talented overall skater in the US. I'd love to see her go back to the Olympics but she has to be ready to battle for that spot...I don't know if she's up to the challenge or not.

I guess the moral of the story is that Mirai, Agnes, Courtney, Wang, etc. should give it their all this season, and put blinders on to the hype surrounding Gold and Wagner being the only two definites on the Sochi team, because anything can happen!

Mirai needs to take the lessons she's learned on the ice and in life and just skate with freedom.

That said, she will have to do well at all her competitions this season for the USFSA to rediscover her by '14 Nationals. Right now, they are looking the other way.

BTW, speaking of skaters who've underperformed recently: I don't dislike Agnes at all, but the USFSA's focus on her is a little strange IMO. She like Mirai has faltered more often than succeeded when it counts and yet, she's held up nationally.

I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying. -Michael Jordan

I hope she tries her hardest. The flu/cold was really bad timing last season during nationals. Reports had her looking great going into Nationals and then the flu. I assume we will see her short program at "The Ice" since she debuted last season's short program there. Go Mirai!

I don't know about the Gershwin music (I'll have to YT it) but as for the Bond FS...hmm...I think it's a better choice than going the classical route. She's been pretty boring in that area for a while now so hopefully skating to something with more personality and sass will help her bring that out on the ice.

I watched Mirai in the clips from The Ice and I thought she looked very pretty...but very blank. The little "Bom Bom" number they did was so cute but when they put the camera on Mirai her face looked as though she was trying to choose between Italian dressing or vinaigrette. She looked completely over it! I don't get that. She is going to have to learn to bring some life to her skating which was gorgeous BTW. The Bond music is different so hopefully that add some life to her.

I don't know about the Gershwin music (I'll have to YT it) but as for the Bond FS...hmm...I think it's a better choice than going the classical route. She's been pretty boring in that area for a while now so hopefully skating to something with more personality and sass will help her bring that out on the ice.

I watched Mirai in the clips from The Ice and I thought she looked very pretty...but very blank. The little "Bom Bom" number they did was so cute but when they put the camera on Mirai her face looked as though she was trying to choose between Italian dressing or vinaigrette. She looked completely over it! I don't get that. She is going to have to learn to bring some life to her skating which was gorgeous BTW. The Bond music is different so hopefully that add some life to her.

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Haha re: dressing, thanks for my new location. And I really am starting to think Mirai is just focusing so much when she is skating and that she forgets to smile. No wonder Frank was telling her to smile before and after skates.